Hillary Clinton's challenge for 2016

If Hillary Clinton runs for president in 2016, polls show that the gender issue won't matter

12:20 AM,
Mar. 7, 2014

In this Jan. 27, 2014 file photo, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks in New Orleans. The National Archives plans to release about 4,000 pages of previously confidential documents involving former President Bill Clinton's administration. Some of the topics include the president's health care task force and the 9/11 Commission Report. The papers could shed light on Clinton's presidency and provide insight into a future presidential candidate: former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

Written by

Karlyn Bowman
and Jennifer Marisco

Repeat after us: The 2016 election is more than 2½ years away. Hillary Clinton may be a candidate. If she is, Benghazi or Bill Clinton may or may not be issues. Who could possibly know?

Now that that's out of the way, let's look at something more interesting - how much resistance there may be to a female presidential candidate and to Hillary Clinton in particular. Here we have a plethora of polls to provide some tentative answers. Let's start at the beginning.

In the late 1930s, when the Gallup Organization asked people about voting for a woman for president, more than 6 in 10 said they would not do so. ...